The World Wide Web (web) has rapidly become an invaluable tool to individuals and businesses. Not only can an individual or business post information on the web, but it can also use the web to transact business. Because the public is acutely aware of the web's business and personal benefits, millions of web pages are being added to the web each year.
Typically, a web page is defined by a document containing HyperText Markup Language (HTML) code. An HTML document suitable for posting on the internet includes both “content” and “markup.” The content is information which describes a web page's text or other information for display or playback on a computer's monitor, speakers, etc. The markup is information which describes the web page's behavioral characteristics, such as how the content is displayed and how other information can be accessed via the web page.
In order to provide web-based information and services over the internet, the web employs “client” computers, “browser” software, and “server” computers. A client computer is a computer used by an individual to connect to the internet and access web pages. A browser is a software application, located on a client computer, which requests, via the internet, a web page from a server computer. After receiving the web page, the browser displays the web page on the client computer's monitor. A server computer is a computer which stores web page information, retrieves that information in response to a browser's request, and sends the information, via the internet, to the client computer. Thus, after a web page is created, the page must be “posted” to a particular server computer which “hosts” the page, so that the page can be accessed over the internet.
In order to have one's web page hosted by a server, the individual must contract with an internet service provider (ISP) associated with the server. This contract specifies, among other things, the duration of the time that the ISP will host the page, and how much the individual will pay for that hosting service.
Even though the idea of having one's own web page is appealing, the average individual has little or no knowledge about how to create a web page. Particularly, the average individual does not know how to create an HTML document or to post that document to a server computer. Unless that individual is willing to learn how to create and post their own web page, that individual is faced with few options.
The most commonly used avenue for an individual to get his web page on the internet is to employ one of numerous companies to provide, for a fee, web page/website development services. After contacting such a website development company, the individual would meet with one of the company's web page designers to explain the individual's concept for his web page. The designer would then create the associated HTML document. After approval by the individual, the designer may provide the service of posting the web page to a server. The server typically is not associated with the website development company. Thus, the individual must separately contract with an ISP associated with the server to host the web page. Typically, this web page creation and posting process is time consuming and expensive, because it requires the individual and the designer to spend a significant amount of time together working on a particular page design. In addition, the process is inefficient because the individual must work separately with a website development company and an ISP.
The difficulties and expense associated with web page creation and design are exacerbated by the fact that many individuals who desire to set up web pages are doing so for commercial reasons, i.e., the individuals desire to conduct business or “e-commerce” over the internet using their web pages. Developing a web page/website suitable for e-commerce typically requires at least two types of features above and beyond those required for a standard (non-commercial) web page/website. First, an e-commerce website typically requires marketing features. As noted, there are millions of web pages already existing on the interest, and so the success of an internet-based business employing a website depends critically upon whether consumers on the internet are aware of, and can easily access, the website.
With respect to these marketing features, a common way of marketing a website on the internet is to have other websites display advertising messages (“banner ads”) concerning the website. A second way of marketing a particular website on the internet is simply to have other websites display selectable commands (“links”) which, if selected by a person accessing the other websites using his browser, cause the browser to access the particular website. Although the use of such banner ads and links is very common, the setting up of such mechanisms is not always easy. In particular, other websites typically do not display banner ads and links for a particular website without contractual arrangements, including payment, which can be difficult for a novice web designer to arrange and expensive to arrange via a website development company.
In addition to marketing features, an e-commerce website typically also requires features that allow the conducting of sales transactions, i.e., features for executing transactions involving the buying and selling of goods and/or services. Such features typically include a sales mechanism, i.e., a “shopping cart” mechanism or an “auction.” Further, such features typically include a payment arrangement, i.e., an arrangement allowing for transfers from a purchaser's credit card to a merchant account associated with the e-commerce website. The setting up of such sales mechanisms and payment arrangements also can be difficult for a novice web designer and expensive if performed by a website development company.
What is needed, therefore, is a method for enabling an individual to conveniently design a web page without requiring that individual to learn HTML or to interact extensively with a web page designer at a website development company. What is further needed is a streamlined method for web page/website development and, in particular, a method of facilitating the development of e-commerce websites having key marketing and sales transaction features.